Substance Use Among Incarcerated Adolescents: Associations With Peer, Parent, and Community Use of Substances

• NCJ Number: 164148
• Journal: Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 31 Issue: 10 Dated: (1996) Pages: 1433-1445
• Author(s): K B Sigda; S L Martin
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): P20-MH49878; MCJ-107
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A questionnaire survey of incarcerated adolescents in four training schools in North Carolina gathered information on the number and proportion of these youths who use cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs and the relationships between the youths' use of drugs and substance use by peers, parents, and community members.

Abstract

Parents or guardians provided informed consent for their children's participation; each participant received $2. Usable responses came from 186 youths. Results revealed that substance use was common among incarcerated adolescents as well as among the youths' peers, parents, and community members. More than half of the youths reported regular use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs prior to training schools. More than half reported cigarette and alcohol use by peers, parents, and community members, and over half reported illicit drug use by peers and community members. Logistic regression analyses revealed patterns similar to those in the general population in that peer substance use was the strongest predictor of substance use among incarcerated adolescents. Tables and 16 references (Author abstract modified)